Automatic heat control for tobacco rooms



J. L. SCHOLL AUTOMATIC HEAT CONTROL FOR TOBAC CO ROOMS April 13 192e, 1,581,025

Filed June 4, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l Figl.

gwumtoo J. L. Suwu.

April 13 1926.

J. L. SCHO'LL AUTOMATIC HEAT CONTROL FOR TOBACCO ROOMS Filed June 4, 1925 2 Sheets -Sheet 2 n 9 n e swuwntw Patented Apr. 13, 1926 UNITED stares.

JAMESIL- soHoLL, or roWnLLsvInnnNoR'rE CAROLINA.-

AUTon-ArIo HEAT ooivrzaon FOR roenoeo Rooms;

Application filed June-4; 1925. "Serial No. 34,892.

To all'wlwm it may concern: I

Be it known thatJAMns L; Sor-IoLL, a citizen of the United. States of America; residing atPowellsviHe, in the county of Bertie 5 and Stateof North Carolina, has invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Heat Controls for Tobacco Rooms, of which the following is a specification. i It is essential in drying or curingtobacco that the temperature in the barnor room in which the operation is carried out be not permitted to fluctuate but be raised gradually as the tobacco is dried. The-temperature of'the barn or room should be initially A the same as the outside'temperature when the curing or drying is begun and then be gradually increasedat'the rate of 1' Frper hour for from. ninety-six to one hundred hours. i V It is the object of the present-invention, therefore, to. provide an automatic heatcontrol for tobacco drying roomsor barns for effectively. securing a uniform. increase throughout the prescribed period irrespective of the temperature of the exterior or surrounding alr; and to provide, n sucha control,. heating; elements and tank for furnishing fuel to the same, together with thermostatically controlled means for per mitting the flow of fuel to the heating elements, whereby the. latter are. actuated to accomplish'the purpose desired. 4

The inventioncomprises further features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter set forth, shown in the. drawings and claimed; H

In the drawings:

Figurel is a view in elevation of the improved automatic heat control apparatus for the construction of thethermostatically. contobacco drying rooms constructed. in accordtrolled means'whieh insures a strict control ofthe heat. e

v F1gure5' is a sectional view on'line 5-55 of] Figure 1. y Referring to the drawings; lf designates an oil' tank which may be any 's'izeg'shape and construction and 2 denotes pip s or fuelicon- 5 ductors of which there may be 'asfrnany as convenient to insure necessary-'heat for' a tobacco drying room. The;pipesextendradially andtare connected to suitable burners?) of conventional type which giveofi heat to insure heating atobacco dryingroorn. V

Rising from the bottom of the t'anlt 1 and integrally connecting the} top of the tank (which has a flanged. filling fopening "46 with a removable cap is a guide tube ,Gthrougli which a tubeTisguided; a plate Sbei'ng car'-' by theupp'er endofsaidtube; 'D pend ing from the plate or crosspiece 8 am rods 9 which pass. through 'fsuitable guide openingsrlo inth'etop of the'tankythe lowerends ofsaidrods havingslide valves 11 which are mounted in guides 12, of" the adjacent ends of the pipes or conductors 2. e The-valves ll have elongated openings 13 and a plurality of small orificesor openings 14,7the latter being below-the former the object being that when the valves are raised sufiiciently to remove the openings 13 from registration with the pipes 2,,jone or all of theopenings l't. may register with'thelpipes, allowing a minimum amount of fuel'orfgasoline to enter-the pipes Qand'therebyreach the burners. However, it isobviOus-tliat when the valves are lowered. with the. openings 13. in register with the-pipes. 2', a maximum suppl'yoffuel. or oil; is allowed to enter the pipes and hence reach theburners. The tank 1. is supported upon suitable standards 15which risefrom abase lfi'and fastened to theba'se is an interiorly threaded cylinder 17 which supports .a suitable crown gear wheel 18, therebeinglballbearingsfilQ between the gear wheel and" the interiorfly threaded cylinder, so that the crown: gear wheel will rotate freely. The. cylinder .17. has means, as] indicated at I 20,; which pres vents upward movement of the crown wheel as it rotates. In other words, the crown gear wheel is permitted to rotate but not to move axially of the cylinder or axially of a movable cylinder 21.

The cylinder 21 has diametrically opposite ribs or keys 22 which engage in diametrically opposite grooves in the opening of the crown gear wheel 18, thereby causing the movable cylinder 21 to lower and at the same time rotate'with the crown gear wheel.

.The lowering of the movable cylinder 21 is caused due to it being exteriorly threaded and engaging the interior threads of the cylinder 17. For instance, the rotating of the crownngear wheel rotates the movable cylinder 21due to the rib and groove 'connections and since themovable cylinder 21 is capable of movement through the crown gear wheel, it. will adjust Vertically on account of its threaded connections with the I cylinder 17 he lower end of the tube 7 on its interior lower end ofthe tube 8, whereby as the temperature of the room increases, the mercury in the container orvessel '26 will expand sufliciently to' cause the tube 28 to rise and abut against thepartitionf and hence raise the pipe or tube 7, and since the rods 9are connected to the upper endjof the tube '7, they will correspondingly move. Since the rods 9 are connected to the slide valves, as shown, the valves willadjust inorder to regulate the registration of the openings 13 and 14 with the adjacent ends of said pipes 2.

Where the tubes 27 and 28 telescopically unite, an interiorly arranged tube of rubber or other suitable material is mounted, thus preventing any leakage of the'mercury exteriorly of the vessel or container 26. Projecting'from the cylinder'17 isa support 29 on which the casing of a 'suitable clockwork or timing mechanismfiO is supported. In this mechanism, the minute hand is dispensedvwithand a pinion 31 mounted upon the unit spindle 32 of the mechanism, this pinion meshing with the teeth of the crown gear. wheel 18 so as to rotate'the latter and thereby lower "the cylinder 21 as the column of" mercury increases in length. Thus, a

more efiective control of the fuel valves is tha n wo'uld be the "case were their operation dependent solely upon' the expansion of-thei column of mercury. Therefore, the construction provides forthe" gradual increase 'inf the temperature of the room or barn. V I

When the mercury in the container or vessel 26 expands, the rods 9 move upwardly and thereby move the valves upwardly which move the openings 13 out of register with the adjacent ends of the pipes, and thereby out off the supply of kerosene to the burners. A contraction of the mercury in the vessel or container allows the tube or pipe 7 to lower and hence the rods will register the openings 13 of the slide valves with the adja cent ends of the pipes 2, permitting an increased flow of kerosene or other fuel to the burners, thereby causing the burners to send off a uniform supply of heat for the tobacco drying room.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed is: v l

'1. In an automatic heat control for tobacco drying rooms, the combination with a fuel tank havingradiating pipes near its bottom with exteriorly disposed heating elements, of

slide valvesjfor adjacent ends of said pipes with maximum andminimum size openin' registerable with said adjacent ends of t e pipes, and thermostatically controlled means for governing the positions of the valves to register the maximum or minimum openings with the ends of the pipes to permit a general or minimum 'flow of fuel to the heating elements. Y

.2. In an automatic heat controlfor tobacco drying rooms, the combination with a fuel tank having radial pipes with exteriorly disposed heating elements, of slide valves having maximum and minimum size openings'registerable with adjacent ends of said pipes, means consisting of a vertically movab e tube with operative connections, with thevalves for controlling the position of the valves whereby a general or minimum flow of fuel is permitted to reach the heating elements through the pipes, and thermostatically controlled means for actuating the vertically movable tube.

3. In an automatic heat control for tobacco drying rooms, the combination with 'af'uel tank having' radiating pipes near its bottom with exteriorly disposed heating elements, of slide valves for adjacent ends of said pipes with maximum and minimum size openings registerable withsaid adjacent ends of the pipes, thermostatically controlled means for governing the positions of the valves to register the maximum or minimum openings with the ends of the pipes to permit a general'or minimum flow of fuel to the heating elements, movable means for the support of the thermostatically controlled means, and a time mechanism ,for controlling said movable'means to increase the temperature as desired. i r 4. In an automatic heat control for tobacco drying rooms, the combination with a fuel tank having radial pipes with'exteriorly disposed heatmg elements, of slide valves having maximum nd minimum size openings registerable wit adjacent ends of said pipes, means consisting of a vertically movable tube with operative connections with the valves for controlling the position of the valves whereby a general or minimum flow of fuel is permitted to reach the heating elements through the pipes, thermostatically controlled means for actuating the vertically 10 movable tube, a vertically movable support for theithermostatically controlled means, and a time mechanism having operative gear connections with said vertically movable support for lowering the same and thereby increasing thetemperature of the room in a uniform manner. I

In testimony whereof he alfixes his signature.

' JAMES L. serious; 

